THEATRE ROYAL: "RAINBOW REVELS."

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5394, 1 March 1879, Page 5

THEATRE ROYAL: "RAINBOW REVELS."

V change of programme—not affecting the jeneral scopc and purport of the entertainnent but of the individual performances —drew an excellent house to the theatre ast night. Mi*. Stewart substituted imita* I ions of G. V. Brooke, Creswick, and \ >ther actors for those with which he had i nade us familiar. Miss Docy Stewart sang I 1 Kobert toi qui j'aime"for " Ernani Involami 1 Vliss Maggie Stewart sang the "Banners of Slue" for " Caller-ou," and Miss Nelly Stewart lang (accompanying herself on the guitar) "My ?retty Jane," for the " Maid of Athens." All ibese were re-demanded. There were minor sbanges which do not call for any special nention, beyond saying that they contributed :nuch to the general e£Tect. There could not be i better testimony to the good taste that governs these performances, from first to last, than the ispectof the dress circle nightly. The presence :>f ladies in large number indicates tbeir estimate of such an entertainment, in details of wbich they alone are competent judges. It would be difficult to conceive anything more imusing than " Buskin's After-supper Soliloquy," or more racy than the parody of "The Beggars' Opera," in the form of a Scotch and Irish trio; or more characteristic than "Toby Toddlepot, the Deaf Uardeuer." "The Dancing Duet" is a very elegant aud pretty performance of its kind. The merriment provoked by the clever impersonations of nationalities —German, French, Irish, Scottish, &c. —is thoroughly legitimate. The dialogue has much literary point and counter-point. The music, under Mr. Harcourt Lee, who conducts the orchestra, is excellent. Wo too seldom have an entertainment of which good humour, good manners, and good taste, in combination, have fall control, and when we have such it is well to commend it to public favour.